Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Hovde Group

Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $25.00 target price on the savings and loans company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Provident Financial Services from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Provident Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.50.

Provident Financial Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFS opened at $20.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.10 and a 200-day moving average of $17.90. Provident Financial Services has a one year low of $13.07 and a one year high of $22.24.

Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $349.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.25 million. Provident Financial Services had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 5.21%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Provident Financial Services will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Provident Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Provident Financial Services

In other Provident Financial Services news, EVP James A. Christy sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.88, for a total value of $73,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,254 shares in the company, valued at $715,223.52. The trade was a 9.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Provident Financial Services

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in Provident Financial Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $508,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth $6,990,000. Royce & Associates LP bought a new position in shares of Provident Financial Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $766,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 222,849 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,198,000 after purchasing an additional 61,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Provident Financial Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,613,000. 71.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

Provident Financial Services, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Provident Bank that provides various banking products and services to individuals, families, and businesses in the United States. Its deposit products include savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts, as well as IRA products.